Two Broken People
by DebbieB
Summary: A Missing Scene Story. Tracy confronts Luke after witnessing the kiss between him and Holly Scorpio.


He was grateful, as anybody with any sense would be, when Robert barged in and effectively rescued him from Holly's advances. Granted, Luke Spencer was not the kind of guy to look a gift-kiss in the mouth, especially when said kiss was delivered with such vigor and expertise by a lovely woman like Holly.

But he had to admit, he was just plain uncomfortable with the turn things had taken. Holly Scorpio had never been what you would call "altruistic," but Luke had a hard time coming to terms with the idea that she really would have put so many lives at risk for money. He shook himself out, closing his eyes as he stood outside the room where they had been holding her until the FBI could arrive.

"My, that was a charming reunion." It was the voice of death, otherwise known has his beloved wife. Tracy Quartermaine Ashton Williams Hornsby Solieto Spencer, or Spanky Buns for short. She was loitering just outside the door, just close enough to have heard, he assumed from the frown on her face, every word of his conversation with Holly. "So touching, and me without my Poloroid." She ambled toward him, unfolding her arms to reach out and take his hands in hers.

Luke kissed her hands, gentlemanlike, and grinned at her. "And what are you doing here at the hospital, Wife, besides lurking about and eavesdropping on private conversations?" When she rolled her eyes slightly, he winked. "I figured when they sounded the all-clear, you'd be out of here like a bullet train and headed straight for the first martini and day spa you could find."

"If you must know, I did go home. Alan called and said the hospital was low on blood due to the crisis, and since my type is fairly rare…" She lifted up her sleeve to show the square white bandage taped to the inner curve of her elbow, "I did my civic duty and came to donate blood."

"Very impressive, Spanky," he said, wrapping his arm in hers as he led her away from the holding area. The last thing he wanted was for Robert to come out with Holly and give Tracy the opportunity to deliver yet another "keep your hands off my husband" speech. "I was under the impression that you only made withdrawals." When she shot him a questioning look, he leaned forward and mimed biting her neck, vampire-style. The smack she gave him on the shoulder was worth the smile she tried to hide.

A happy Tracy was a good Tracy, as far as he was concerned, and Luke was eager to keep the conversation as far away from Holly and that kiss as he could.

Tracy, on the other hand, was not so easily distracted. "So. The former Mrs. Scorpio wanted to run away with you," she purred, her voice almost giddy with the potential for torment. "Rekindle the old flame and spend all that blood money like the good little vultures you are…."

"That's about it," he said darkly as he led her into the coffee shop. Guiding her to a table, he said, "You want?"

"You know how I drink it." She sat down at the nearest available table and let him wait on her.

Getting the coffee took just long enough for Luke to rebalance himself. The whole incident with Holly had thrown him for a loop, and off-balance was not the best way to deal with Tracy. She had that lovely shark-like tendency to smell blood and frenzy, and Luke wasn't sure he had the strength to hold his own with her right now. He handed her the coffee, one sugar less than perfect, to her. "Just the way you like it, my dear."

"Thank you," she said, tasting the coffee. With a frown, she reached for the sugar packets and added, "Now, we were discussing the man-stealing whore who was trying to lure you away from me to some dreary tropical paradise?"

"I can't get anything over on you, Sugar Plum," Luke said, patting her hand. She snapped it away, and raised a single eyebrow in warning.

"No, you can't, Loverboy, and if you so much as play footsie with her…"

"Don't worry, Spanky. Her offer was a little less tempting the second time I heard it." He nudged his foot forward, playing with the hem of her pants. "Especially since the first time, she was making the offer to Robert."

Tracy leaned forward again, a huge smile on her face as she stepped on his foot. "Oooh, now I know why I can't seem to get you in bed more often…or at all. I'm just not slutty enough for you."

"Oh, come now, Wife. You can't fool me. I've known you for over twenty years, and believe me, you can be plenty slutty enough." This earned him a hard stomp to the instep, but it seemed worth it. "Ouch," he laughed. "Sorry if the truth hurts, Spanky."

"You have no idea what you're talking about, and as long as you keep mocking our sacred marital vows with the likes of Holly Scorpio and Skye, you never will."

Tracy took a long sip of her coffee, studiously ignoring the fact that he'd started playing footsie with her again. It was something he loved to do, something that just amused him no end. She was fun, that Tracy Quartermaine, and the more she believed he had the upper hand, the more fun she was. So when the words slipped out, "Well, I don't think Skye is going to be much competition for you anymore," he could have kicked himself. He hadn't wanted her to have that information. Not just because it would tip the scales in her favor to know that Skye had unceremoniously dumped him, but because he himself had not quite adjusted to it yet and he wanted some time to digest before he dealt with the Tracy Factor.

Unfortunately, now that was no longer an option. She put down her coffee, eyeing him hard, as if to determine what game he was up to. "Oh, really?"

Luke sighed. It was going to come out soon enough. "Yeah, I guess she just had enough of it. The disappearances, the cons--us." He shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. "We're a rare breed, you and me." He sounded for all the world like some old guy telling stories about the war. "Not everybody has the stomach for the game."

"We do," she said softly. She was looking deeply into her coffee cup now. It wasn't what Luke had expected, although he should have long since given up trying to predict her reactions. He would have thought she would relish the idea of Skye being out of the picture, but…she seemed almost sad. "You okay?"

He shrugged.

"Did you love her?" she asked, still studying her coffee.

"As much as I have anyone…" He didn't want to finish the sentence. They both knew what he wasn't going to say, so why bring it up? Why go there? "Yeah, pretty much."

They sat in silence, neither drinking or talking or doing much of anything but thinking, for a long while. Then Tracy said, "I'm sorry."

Luke looked at her. She was just sitting there, a look of compassion on her face. Like she knew where he was, and what he'd lost.

She was a hell of a woman, that Tracy. "Well, now you have me all to yourself, Spanky Buns," he said, too brightly, too quickly.

"Too bad I don't want you." Her answer was just as quick, just as practiced, as his.

It was stupid, he thought to himself as they continued to drink their coffee. He was alone. She was alone. They were roughly the same age, had mainly the same interests--money and control, and they sparked like crazy every time they were within 500 feet of each other. He watched her as she absently stirred her coffee. She was a beautiful woman, with features that just mellowed and grew lovelier with age.

She got him. He got her.

So why this wall? He was embarrassed when she looked up to find him staring at her. For a moment, he knew what she was thinking, what she was feeling, why they just…_couldn't_…yet.

And the knowing scared him more than he wanted to admit. It scared him knowing he could be this in sync with a woman again, after all these years, that he could enjoy her so completely. It scared him, because he'd never felt that way with anyone since….

"Just a warning, Husband," she said warmly, knowing she was rescuing him from his own maudlin thoughts. "Don't think that just because Skye's out of the way, I'm going to start letting you get away with anything."

He realized, or realized that he had actually known and been denying it for a long time, that he'd stopped loving Skye a long time before. That Skye had become an excuse, a distraction from something much more terrifying.

He'd thought Tracy would be safe.

He'd never thought he could fall in love with her, of all people.

And now Skye was gone, and he was terrified.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Wife," he said, leaving it there.

It would be harder now, finding ways to keep his mind and heart on the prize. To keep it cold, without the safe distraction of chasing Skye to protect him from what he was starting to feel for Tracy.

He saw how much he was hurting her, and it hurt him, too. He didn't want to be a coward. He didn't want to be broken, but there they were.

Two broken people, connected at the pocketbook, struggling with all their might not to heal against their wills.

"Sad, isn't it?" he said darkly.

She lifted her coffee cup in toast, looking at him in that way she had that made him think she could read him completely, that he wasn't fooling her one bit, that she knew exactly what he was thinking and feeling and exactly why he couldn't take that chance with his heart just now. "Yeah." She smiled, and eased her foot playfully against his ankle. God bless her, she wasn't going to let him wallow, not even for a moment. He grinned backed at her, for just one moment completely unafraid of the love and understanding and downright lust he saw in those eyes. She tilted her head slightly. "It certainly is."

The End


End file.
